Sitting on the floor with a sobbing woman in my arms, I rock her back and forth, kissing the top of her head. She yells as she cries, some things I can make out while others are just words all together in a continuous line. All of it cuts me deep, but I’m relieved at the same time. It’s, at least, a start.

I hope I’m not a dick, but this is what she needs. Never having dealt with this before, it’s a guessing game. But my gut hasn’t let me down yet, and I hope this isn’t the time it does.

She filled in the blanks on some of the things no one knew, but I don’t think it’s anywhere near all out of her. There’s no way. Watching her breakdown in my arms though is rough. All I can do for her is to hold her and try to give her the comfort and safety she deserves.

The fire she showed me just now though, tells me to keep at this. Keep poking the bear as one would say. Damn I missed that, the Leah she was before all of this shit. I want her back, and I’ll damn well get her.

* * *

A phone rings off in the distance only to stop and start all over again. Leah’s body is curled around me, eyes puffy from crying, but calm, breathing even, asleep. The asshole on the other end of that phone breaks this spell and is going to get their ass kicked.

Ever so slowly, I maneuver my body out from under Leah only to replace it with a pillow. She groans just as the phone rings again. Fucking hell.

Finding the offender, I swipe it. “What?”

“Let me talk to Leah.” Bristyl’s angry voice comes across the line. Cooper must be in the doghouse from her tone. Fuck.

Looking over to the bed, Leah is wiping the sleep away from her swollen eyes. If it weren’t Bristyl, I’d be pissed as hell, but with the shit she went through right alongside Leah, I’m not.

“It’s Bristyl.”

Leah moves faster than she has these last few days and snatches the phone out of my hand. “Bristyl?”

“I’m okay. Well, not really but I’m working on it.” I hold in my snort or disagreement and she pays me no mind.

She starts walking around her place. I fucking hate listening to a one-sided conversation and when she starts going through parts of what happened, which surprises me, I listen attentively. With every detail repeated a knife goes into my heart, twisting and turning, shredding me from the inside out. If there were some way to erase it all from her head, I’d do it in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, I’m not that lucky. Rubbing my hand over my face, I lay back in the bed and look up at the ceiling. This entire thing is fucked up beyond reason. Not to mention, I’ve been here for a long damn time. I know I’m needed for runs back home, and they’re giving me this time. I don’t know how much though.

Where does that leave Leah? With me gone—exactly what she wants, which can’t happen, not now.

A small hint of a giggle erupts and I take it in, letting it absorb. It’s been too damn long since I’ve heard it and here Leah is, giving it freely. When I hear, “Yeah, make him pay,” I silently chuckle to myself, and I thank Cooper for being a dick. If he wasn’t, then I wouldn’t get to hear my girl almost laugh.

Leah is a little lighter once she hangs up the phone, her eyes darting over to me. “He didn’t tell her. Did you know that?”

“Yep.” And knowing her, she’ll get pissed; at least one can hope. Pissed is showing more emotion than staring at the damn wall.

“Yep?” Her hand goes to her hip and her foot jets out in that stance women take when they’re about to lay it out. The fire from our earlier conversation is back, and I’m loving that shit. “You should have told Bristyl! She’s my best friend!”

Moving to her, she shifts only a touch, her blazing gaze not letting this go in the least. “Not my place. You were my place.”

“Me! I’m your place. What the hell does that even mean?”

Gently, I reach the back of her neck and pull her to me, so close, but not touching. My dick gets hard and I have to will it down, but it doesn’t work.

“Leah, you wanna be pissed. Be pissed. But it’s done. Let Bristyl and her man hash it out.”

“I can’t think with you this close.” She takes a huge step back, putting a wide ocean between us. This can’t happen. I won’t allow it to. I’m not giving up the small inches of progress I’ve made with her.

“That’s the point.”

“Green, I …” She takes steps back, and disappointment floods me. If this were before the attack, I’d grab her, kiss her until she couldn’t remember her name or where she lived and take her to bed, and we wouldn’t be laying sleeping. Unfortunately, that option isn’t in the cards now. Those assholes took that away from us and I have to be the one to get it back. Get us to where we were before all this shit broke into a million pieces, shattering like glass.

Instead of pushing, I give her an out. “Come on, let’s watch something.”

Her deep exhale doesn’t go missed as we do like we always do, sit and stare.

* * *

I block the doorway to the bathroom and hand Leah the piece of paper. “Read it.” Breaking Leah out of her shell isn’t going to be easy, but I’m damn well going to try.

“What is this?”

“Leah, read it.”

She gives me a once over trying to figure it out but opens it.

“My beautiful, Leah,”—she looks up at me. “You wrote me a letter?”

I only nod as she continues.

“My beautiful Leah,

I was told once that relationships were complicated. While they take patience and work, they’re only as complicated as you allow them to be. Keep it simple. We connected over the little things. Go back with me, Leah. Remember a time before when you were safe. I promise nothing will touch you again. I’m your safe place to fall, Leah. You are strong, but you are not alone. Find you again, hold onto the woman you were before, and know that I still stand here for her and for the woman you are today. Just don’t give up.

Like working on a car, sometimes life gets tricky. When a part doesn’t slide right back into place, you have to loosen things up, grease them, and gently get the engine running again. You are wound too tight, Leah. Gently allow yourself to loosen up and know that I’m a patient man who’s not going anywhere. I need you to see, to know, to feel you are strong, beautiful, and absolutely amazing. Need you present with me, babe.

Ty”

“Going back to where it started,” I explain. “With words down on paper, we built a bond. You’re beautiful and smart. I need you to come back to me.”

She gasps, “Green.”

“I’m takin’ you out.”

Her wide eyes and open mouth shocked expression shouldn’t make me want to laugh. But it’s like I asked her to go Mars and have dinner with the alien queen in her hut of fireballs. She hasn’t been out of the house since we got here and she needs to, but tonight isn’t that night. Therefore, I brought the outside in for her.

Sidestepping her, her hand goes to her mouth, her other arm protectively going around her midsection as she looks to where I’m standing. “You did this?”

Her shower took ages. I could’ve had a turkey in the oven for as long as she was in there. But bringing that up, because she thinks she’s dirty, isn’t going to happen. She’s beautiful the way she is. Yes, there are some scars on her face and her hair is lightly coming back in, but she pulls it back gently and ties it at the nape of her neck. Therefore, the patches are somewhat covered. She could be completely bald and she’d be just as beautiful as ever.

“Nope, had some elves come in and work their magic.”

This earns me a small smile opening my worldwide. I’ve missed her and with each ticking second that goes by, when she doesn’t talk to me or when she goes into the bathroom for long periods of time, everything makes me miss her more. This right here. Makes it all worth it. Yes, Bristyl got a small laugh out of her, but I got the smile and damn if it doesn’t make me want to get Bristyl here to crack Leah open with me.

Her voice is soft. “Well the magic elves are welcome here.”

“Come sit.”

She sits and stares at the table in amazement, when in reality it’s nothing huge. Definitely not enough of what she deserves, but I’m working with what I’ve got here. “The table has a candle, Green.”

“It does? How the hell did that get there?” Making my way over to the stove, I load up her plate with pasta, sauce, and bread then make my way over to her, sitting the food on the table.

Her shoulders visibly fall, but not in defeat—the opposite, telling me I’m doing the right thing. These little reassurances are what keep me going. “This looks great.”

Going back to fill my plate, I say, “It’s not fancy, but it gets the job done.” Moving to the table, I take the seat across from her. I can’t stop myself from watching her as she eats. The line that’s always between her eyes when she squints is loose and relaxed. She appears lighter in a way, and it’s a great look on her.

“Well, it’s delicious.” She pulls in another bite, chews, and swallows. “I didn’t realize I was so hungry.”

“That’s because you live on less food than a rabbit.”

“I do not. I just haven’t been hungry.” She trudges on the territory where I do not want this night to go. Yes, I still want her to talk to me, but tonight the goal is to remind her of who she was before this happened. I’m just making this shit up as I go along. Hell, I’ve never been with a woman long enough to have to deal with something as horrible as what she went through, let alone cared enough to make it better.

Or damn well try.

Leah sets her fork down. “I don’t know how to do this, Green.”

“Do what? Eat?”

“Ha, ha. I don’t know.” She flicks a hand between us. “This. Whatever this is. You being here when you don’t have to be. Why did you stay at the hospital for that long? My parents were there. I know you have a life, and it’s not here in Florida. And why won’t you leave now?” She pushes again even after the letter. I know she’s scared, but she has to know I’ll catch her if she falls.

“Eat,” I order, pointing my fork in her direction and motioning to her plate. “And I’ll talk. You’ll listen, and we’ll get some things ironed out.”

After too long of a damn pause, she resumes eating all the while looking warily. Everything comes at me in a flash. Go hard. Go slow. Be gentle. Be hard. In my head it’s bundled up but, I sort it all out quickly.

“I stayed because I wanted to. You remember the letter I wrote you about doing what I want, when I want?” She blots her mouth with a napkin, nodding. “That’s what this is, Leah. I want to be here, so I’m here. No way in hell I was leaving you after what I saw.”

Something flashes over her eyes and a wall comes down hard like cement, blocking her from me. I have no idea what I said that made her shut down, but she has and I’m pissed at myself for it.